Friday, 18 September 2015

I am whooshing (that's a Darnell-ism as if you didn't know) in today to link up my card with Darnell's of djkardkreations NBUS challenge. If by chance you are wondering who Darnell is and what does NBUS stand for let me explain.

Darnell is one of the most entertaining bloggers (IMHO) in blog land, she runs a happy, entertaining, fun and witty blog with never a dull moment in sight, and as an added bonus she happily shares her amazing clean and simple style of card making art on an almost daily basis. Add to that the regular photographs she posts of the wonders she sees from her Playhouse and the tall tales she tells of her sidekick and muse, Hammy, who resides there, well aren't you just dying to go check her out ?!

But wait ! I haven't told you about NBUS.

This is an acronym coined by Darnell and stands for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff and the challenge is to encourage us to use our NBUS from the back of the cupboard - bottom of the draw - top of the wardrobe - under the bed stash and create something with it.

This challenge is massively supported by her many friends (followers) and this time for challenge number 5 has many well known sponsors who are generously donating prizes too.

The Card

This is my first attempt at using Brusho powder inks and I would like to thank Eileen Godwin of Eileen's Crafty Zone for the inspiration to try these powdered inks. Her art work is amazing.

I used :-
Penny Black - Floral Display stencil (NBUS)

Brusho - Lime Green and Lemon (NBUS)

Clearley Besotted - Sentiment

I wish I had used a plain white card stock for this card front instead of pearlescent. I don't like the gold sheen of the card with the Brusho colours, also the black ink didn't cover very well on this card, I had to try several different black inks' and it didn't photograph very well either.

I have a lot to learn, ah well, I know for next time eh !

Congratulations Darnell on your 5th NBUS challenge and the great response it's achieved.

Hey you've even managed to drag me out of the doldrums and make a card. lol

Monday, 1 June 2015

Hello fellow bloggers, well here I am with my May tag for Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2015 and as usual I am scraping in at the last minute. So I had better not waffle on too long or I will miss the bus.

So here it is

Ta-daaa

I followed Tim's great tutorial but used some alternative elements as I did not have all of the items he used.

My tag is a tribute to a significant chapter in my mum's life and indeed mine.

The picture I've used is a photo of my mum aged about 20. The year was 1953 and she was about to travel to South Africa to marry the man who had written to her and asked her to marry him, my dad.

They were going out with each other when my dad's work took him to South Africa and I guess it was a case of "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

The picture of the ship is an actual poster that I managed to find via the internet of the ship Sterling Castle that my mum traveled on. The All Aboard card is a docrafts Urban stamp as is the ticket at the bottom. I used the same quote as Tim because it does describe my mum, she was kind hearted.

The trinkets I used belonged to my mum the little flower came from a pair of large clip on earrings that I can remember from when I was a little girl, and then found, still in her jewelry box after she died. The little bell is also one of a pair of earrings which my mum really liked and wore often.

I used the word love from Tim's special delivery remnant rubs on the token, the tattered garland die for two of my flowers and the Gothic stencil for the pink decoration.

I think my mum was very brave to travel by ship on her own to South Africa at twenty, I really don't think I would have dared when I was that age. But not only that, she also made the return trip back to England on her own with two small children. I was born in 1955 then my brother in 1958. In 1959 they decided that my mum my brother and I would return to England as I would be starting school the following year, My dad stayed there to work another few years before coming back to join us in England.

So thank you Tim for the inspiration to make this tag personal to me, and thank you mum for being my inspiration, love and miss you

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Hello to you on this wet, windy and snowy Wednesday here in Halifax. Hope you are faring better with the weather wherever you are.

I am blogging a Card I have made to join in with Darnell's NBUS challenge # 4.

NBUS is an acronym that Darnell christened and stands for Never Before Used Schtuff and the challenge is to encourage us to use some of our stash that has never seen the light of day since being purchased to create something. So if you would like to play along click on this link djkardkreations to find out her Require-Mints, but you will have to be quick as it ends at 11.55 PST, March 31, 2015. Which of course is TODAY !!! I'm not called Last Minute Lottie ! for nothing you know.

So here is my card

I made this card in memory of my mum.

I used Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserve DI to colour the masked panel then went over with a
Dutch Doobadoo chicken wire stencil. I then stamped using Archival black ink and a Inkylicious Water Rain Drops stamp then lifted some of the colour out of the droplets and added highlights with a white Signo pen.
For the embellishment I stamped a Butterfly from the A Muse Studio Pappilon stamps in Versamark and embossed in gold, then coloured with Distress Markers. The sentiment came with a magazine.
I like how realistic those water droplets look and the pretty Butterfly embellishment, though I would prefer the stenciling to be a little lighter next time.
So my NBUS are :-
Dutch Doobadoo Chicken Wire stencil
Inkylicious Water Rain Drops stamp
A Muse Studio Pappilon stamp set
Magazine freebie sentiment stamp
So happy to have been able to play along in Darnell's NBUS challenge # 4.

Monday, 9 February 2015

Well, for once I am I am not "last minute Lottie" as I have managed to make and actually post my finished tag at the beginning of the month instead of at the end or even not at all!!

I followed Tim's detailed tutorial which you can check out here but used Madam Payraud's 8x8 paper stack for my collaged background, love these papers. I also used a piece of Docrafts adhesive fabric 'Sew Lovely' Tape Measure paper roll which has got lost under the frame and heart. I stamped the word Love on a ticket from the ticket strip die as I didn't have any of the Holiday Flash Cards and also added a strip of Sketchbook tissue tape.

I made my felt heart by first sticking felt to some card and die cut using the M+S heart die, then die cut another felt heart without the card backing, and also cut another heart from some light weight wadding. I trimmed down the heart wadding a little and used a small amount of glue to stick it to the felted card then made a sandwich, card/felt, wadding, felt heart. I then sewed round the whole thing on my sewing machine which was a bit fiddly and not as evenly stitched as I would have liked, but I could almost hear Tim in my head saying "embrace the imperfections" so I did ! lol

I decided to add some seed beads for texture and to give a quilted look which also doesn't show up very well in the photo's.

To finish off I added one of the corners from the industrious stickers, a couple of heart brads slightly inked with a litlle Black soot DI to the word band (it is a Valentine tag after all) a snippet of lace to the bottom and some crinkle ribbon to the top, coloured with a Marvy Brush Marker which matched the colour of my felt heart perfectly.

I enjoyed making Tim's February Tag and am happy with how it turned out though I think I might add more of the Black Soot DI next time to give better shadows around the collaged pieces. I panicked and smudged more off than I left (Tim didn't offer up any encouragement during that part) lol. So I'm off to link up over at Mr H's place and take a look at some of the great tags and leave a little love.
Thanks for stopping by have a great week
Happy Art Making
Hugs Lottie x

Wednesday, 4 February 2015

It's Wednesday and that means it's WOYWW which stands for .......
'What's On Your Work desk
Wednesday'.

If you too would like to join in the fun then, take a picture of your work desk, table, etc. and share it with lots
of other like minded people.

Hop on over to Julia's
blog Stamping Ground for more info. Hope to see you there

Hello fellow desk hoppers, hope you are well and keeping as warm as you can on these wintery days. Here in West Yorkshire we have had some sun today (which always gives you a lift) though it is very cold. Anyway down to business.

The Desk

Or to be more precise the new area
for my finished DI storage units and shelving at the end of my desk
(thank you Jim) Perfectly sized or so I thought until Mr TH announced 12
new DI colours to be released over the next 12 months. Hmmm maybe with a
slight modification.................

"Jim! have you got a minute"?

I
don't know why but those six little words seem to cause a glazed look
and a nervous tick to affect Mr B within a nano second of me uttering
them.

The only problem was the sun hits my desk at this end so I needed a front to stop the inks drying up.
"Jim! have you got a minute"
Voila

It is held in place with magnetic tape and works well, I just remove the front when I use the Inks.

All I need to do now is decide on how to decorate it.

After faffing round deciding what to put on my little shelves Rufus decided to make use of the newly de cluttered desk space and claim it as his own, cheeky boy.

Hope you have a happy desk hopping Wednesday and thank you for stopping by.

Oh! wait a minute I just realized when looking at this last pic that I need a front for the other side, what can I say I neeeed symmetry in my life....................